The 4-3 North Carolina Supreme Court decision finding the congressional and legislative districts unconstitutional due too overly partisan gerrymandering leaves a number of key questions unanswered.

But the ruling does answer one question about the Greensboro City Council elections that has been unknown since the election was first delayed by the North Carolina Legislature due to the 2020 Census data being reported late.

The ruling by the Democratic majority on the NC Supreme Court sets the date for municipal elections in the state.

The ruling states, “municipal elections in circumstances where a second primary is not required under N.C.G.S. 163-111 will be conducted on 26 July 2022.”

When the municipal primary was originally delayed by the legislature from Oct. 5, 2021 to March 8, 2022, the general election was set to be held on either April 26 or May 17 depending on whether there was a runoff election in one of the 14 congressional districts or the statewide US Senate race.

When the NC Supreme Court postponed the March 8 primary to May 17, the Greensboro City Council election was scheduled to be held on either Tuesday, July 5 or Tuesday, July 26, once again dependent on whether or not a runoff was required in one of the 14 congressional districts or the statewide Senate race.

But according to this latest ruling from the NC Supreme Court, the primary for the Greensboro municipal election will be held on Tuesday, May 17 and the general election for Greensboro mayor and members of the City Council will be held on Tuesday, July 26.

So, after months of not knowing when the Greensboro City Council election would be held, there is now a definite date.

However, that assumes that the final decision on congressional and state legislative districts can be made by the deadline of noon Feb. 23, 2022.